


Clear with a Muddy Outlook

by GuileandGall



Series: An Arrow for Directness [2]
Category: Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 5
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Awkwardness, Canon-Typical Violence, Concern, Explosions, F/M, First Kiss, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Not Actually Unrequited Lust, Surprise Kissing, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 13:00:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19318702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuileandGall/pseuds/GuileandGall
Summary: Taking over outposts is becoming a favorite pastime for the deputy and her associates in the resistance, but plans don’t always play out the way one hopes.





	Clear with a Muddy Outlook

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write more Sharky and Taye, so I pulled a vast selection of prompts from my prompt list collection. This is one of them.

 

“Sorry to hear about your folks,” Sharky said. He hadn’t felt the need to fill the silence. Just wanted to tell her that.

“Thanks.” The deputy’s voice was quiet, calm and even.

The sound of gunshots pulled both their brains back into a state of alertness. Their gazes snapped away from each other, guns raising.

“You go left. I’ll go right,” Tayen ordered in a whisper, without even looking at him.

Sharky nodded. “I gotcha.”

Tayen moved first—rifle at the ready, thumb on the safety. The long corridor was mainly empty. Gentle pressure at the door handle, told her they were locked. She gritted her teeth, preferring not to walk past them, but she needed to keep moving.

The gunfire stopped after the short two-round burst that caught their attention. She couldn’t help but hope that maybe Grace had handled the situation from her nest, even so, the deputy still needed to make sure there weren’t threats hiding out that could jump out and bite her in the ass.

 _That_ _’s always how it goes,_ she thought. _Walk past a door, then some whack job whose been sucking a leprechaun_ _’s dick jumps out and gets a lucky shot off._ She stood to the side of the first door and jimmied the handle, waiting for a shotgun blast or a trio of gunshots to splinter the wood. When none came, she moved on, partially confident that no one would pop out and shoot her in the ass.

 _Fuck! Hope Sharky_ _’s watching his ass._ The thought threw her, and her confident step faltered; she almost twisted her ankle. This was not the time to worry about him. But she couldn’t shake it.

“Get a grip, Taye.” Inhaling a deep breath, she moved to the next door. The latch gave way, then she slammed it open. Blocking it open with her foot, she swept the room and cleared it moving down the hall once more. The sound of something metallic set her nerves on edge again. She inched toward the opening leading to a cross corridor, slow and cautious.

One quick breath and she spun around the corner fast, gun up. Sharky blinked at her; a smile curved his mouth and he lowered his shotgun. “Nothing here.”

Tayen nodded, but couldn’t stop staring at him. Her mind raced past a rush of relief sparked with adrenaline. “Oh, fuck it,” she muttered. She grabbed his collar with her free hand and pulled him close, pressing her mouth against his.

Sharky tensed in surprise, then gave in to it. His hand tangled in the short hair at the back of her head, holding her close as if he feared she might change her mind.

The deputy pressed him against the door jamb, kissing him deeper as his arm snaked around her waist. The warmth of him coursed through her; being in his embrace was like standing next to a raging fire. The heat rose in her fast, and her racing heart spread it like a wildfire in the dry brush of an open field. But this was one blaze she didn’t shrink from. Quite the opposite, she welcomed its consumption, wanted to be engulfed. Her free hand slipped to the back of his neck, pulling with all her might as if somehow the heat and connection could fuse them together as their kiss deepened.

“Deputy?” The radio crackled with Grace’s voice.

The intrusion dumped a payload of icy water on Taye’s frenzy. Her grip loosened and the kiss broke in an instant. Like a teenager who’d been caught necking on the family sofa, she inched away, staring up at Sharky guiltily. To her surprise, he didn’t say anything. Her hand slipped away as she put a few additional inches of space between them, but she couldn’t break his gaze. Keying the radio, she raised it to her lips. “What’s up, Grace?”

“We got a truckload of Peggies inbound.”

“Roger that.”

He gave her a tiny smirk, it was half-hearted at best. “Sounds like we best meander.”

“Yeah.” She thought she should say something, explain somehow, but what the hell could she even say: _hey, worried about you going down the hall by yourself. Glad you_ _’re not dead._ Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath. _Better to not_ , she thought. Then Tayen tipped her head and slapped his shoulder, switching gears completely. “Let’s lay out the welcome mat for ‘em.”

“Hell yes,” Sharky agreed with his usual fervor. “I got something that might just brighten their day.”

“Oh, really? Been experimenting again, have you?” She led them down the hall in the direction of what she hoped should be the main entrance.

“A little.” His chuckle ignited her laughter.

“I’m sure they’ll get a thrill out of it,” she assured. “Let’s go.” Her quick walk turned into a jog once they reached the front of the building. “I’m going high.”

“And you didn’t share?” Sharky replied, sounding hurt.

She glanced at him, mouth agape. “You really think I’d be that greedy?”

“Maybe not.”

“Go,” she told him before dashing across the driveway between the buildings. She had only barely clamored onto the roof when she heard the first explosion. Sharky’s howl of triumph echoed through the trees.

She got to witness the second, having to take cover as the plume of fire burst into the air like a flower blooming in spring.

“Fuck, man,” she yelled, peeking back over the rise of the roof. “Save some for me.” As the smoke cleared, movement drew her attention and she trained her sights on it. A controlled burst brought a bald peggie down.

“Clear,” Grace called over the radio. “What the hell was that, Boshaw?”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” he teased with a hearty laugh as he crossed from the ranger station toward the deputy.

“That was fucking awesome,” she said, bumping the fist Sharky held out to her.

“It was all right,” he replied. There was something in the way he looked at her, something she knew was her own fault.

Dutch’s voice squawked from the radio at her shoulder. “Nice work. I radioed Eli. He’s got some boys on the way to help clean up that mess.”

“Good. I think I’m going to head out to the Henbane,” she stared at Sharky for a moment before a sense of guilt washed over her. She turned her back and set one hand on her hip as she studied the dirt at the toe of her boots, which was suddenly fascinating. “Got a line on a prepper stash out there. Figured I should get to it before any of Faith’s people stumble on it.”

“Sounds like a plan. Keep the line open,” the older man replied.

“Always.”

“Good hunting, Deputy.”

“Thanks, Dutch,” she said, her voice tighter than it should have been. Her mind zeroed in on the moment in the hall earlier.

“Eli’s people are twenty minutes out,” Grace added, not even giving Tayen a moment to think. “Sharky and I can hold it down until they get here.”

Her boot toed at a rock stuck hard in the packed earth at her feet. Her teeth pulled at the inside of her cheek.

“Yeah, we got your back,” he added from beside her.

His permission to bail without saying anything about what happened inside didn’t help the feelings that cycloned around inside her. “Cool. Thanks.”

She stretched her neck from one shoulder to the other, then turned. Her hand clapped Sharky’s shoulder. “Watch your ass, pyro.”

“I got this, shorty.”

Her jaw flexed when he looked away from her. Tayen withdrew her hand then took a few slow steps away, as if her subconscious was giving Sharky a chance to call her back. When she didn’t hear his voice, she broke into a jog—feet carrying her into the woods where she could disappear. Maybe the hike would give her time to clear her head and screw it back on straight. She couldn’t just keep randomly kissing people just because they had pretty eyes, at least that was the lie she chose to tell herself about why she’d done it.


End file.
